Rather than a stock tank heater (1200 - 1500 watts), K & H manufacturing in
the US has a 100 watt heater they say they tested in Minnesota that works on
the power of a 100 watt light bulb, ~ twice the price of the higher powered
ones, but should pay the difference in a month or so - link below
Gale :~)

http://www.mops.ca/cgi-bin/SoftCart.....asp?E+scstore

:

I live in North Dakota and for the last week or so the temperature has
been
VERY cold. The night time temps have been as low as -28 degrees F for
several nights with the daytime high temps staying below minus 10
degrees
for about a week now. This is cold even for us natives.

I have a small pond, about 300 gallons, stocked with gold fish, a comet,
koi
and shibunkin(sp?) and maybe a crayfish or two. The pond was nearly
covered
with snow and frost that I was sure the fish would be crispy critters by
now
but this afternoon I braved the cold and went out to check on them. I
was
surprised and, to say the least, pleased that everyone seemed to be in
as
good as spirits as possible under the circumstances. I use a 1200 watt
floating stock tank heater and a bubbler pump but I wasn't sure if the
heater could keep up with the constant cold temps. This, to me, is
proof of
the hardiness of pond fish and the value of a $30 heater. My real
problem
is evaporation, the cold air is very dry and the comparative warm water
makes for rapid evaporation so I'm the only guy in the neighborhood with
a
garden hose stretched out in the back yard all winter.

Anyone have a similar experiences?

Frank



I'm doing the same thing in Minnesota - added water yesterday. This is
the second winter that I've used a tank heater - really boosts the
electric bill - but easier than setting up tanks in the basement.
The fish were swimming around and lookin good yesterday.
Karen